


Another Campsite

by Magestorrow



Category: Ben 10 Series, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: featuring juniper and levi quinn from ace of hearts, i blame luna for motivating me to write this, no knowledge of the fic is needed to read this, this takes place in season one or two of the original ben 10 series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-05-17 21:41:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14839667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magestorrow/pseuds/Magestorrow
Summary: Another night at yet another campsite. That was what Ben thought they were signing up for when they arrived at the campsite, but the Tennyson family rarely have a normal vacation. With a ghost on the loose, mysterious disappearances and boy that continues to get on Ben's nerves, will he ever be able to catch a break?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Though I got the idea for this fic when watching Ben 10 with my little cousin, it's thanks to my wonderful friend Luna that I decided to actually go through with it and write the fic. I'm guessing it'll be on the shorter side, but hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I've loved writing it.
> 
> The two siblings in this story are Levi and Juniper Quinn from my Minecraft fanfiction Ace of Hearts. You don't need to know the story to read this one, but I highly suggest it if you want to get some little references that I've thrown into the story.

Another night at yet another campsite. The prospect should have been a disappointing one, but Ben still found himself plastering his face up against the window to see where they would be staying. His grandpa had been talking about the place for days. While he had done the same about places Ben had absolutely despised, he was bored out of his mind and desperately needed a distraction. There was only so many times that he could mess with Gwen before even that was boring.

He sighed and slipped into the seat. It wasn't anything special – just another stupid camp ground in another stupid forest. It had been hours since they had passed actual civilization, and he despaired at the thought of being stuck here without anything fun to do. He kicked his legs back and forth. Stared dismally up at the ceiling. Sighed. When that grew tiring, he went back to looking out the window. Gwen was typing just a little more furiously than before; it seemed like his loser of a cousin was beginning to get irritated. At least he could take some enjoyment in that-

An almost entirely empty parking lot came into view. Eyes widening in surprise, he took in the sight that greeted him. Two buildings: a camp office and a camp _store_. An actual store! There had only been one site they had stayed at that had a store, and that one had been destroyed shortly after their arrival when Wild Mutt had gone flying into it. He could see a couple of kids loitering in the parking lot, too, and they had to be around his age. 

The RV pulled into a parking spot.

Even before it came to a full stop, Ben had hurried to his feet and was rushing towards the door. “Grandpa, I'm going to go check out the camp store!” He didn't wait to hear a response. If there was one, he certainly wasn't paying attention to it. He threw the door open and hopped onto the pavement. It only took a handful of seconds to bridge the gap between the RV and the store. XLR8 had nothing on the speed of a kid desperate for some good old junk food.

For a campsite in the middle of nowhere, the store was surprisingly impressive. Large racks full of delicious treats lined the walls, and there was even a corner for games to play. Balls, yo-yos, helicopters – if he could think of it, it was there. He was positively beaming as he marveled at each and every thing in the store. It was nothing compared to the stores he had around his home, but it was paradise compared to what he had been forced to deal with this summer. 

Gwen had followed him into the store, but he had lost her back at the bookcase near the front. The nerd was probably reading one of the books she had found there. But why should he complain? It was a chance to explore without her telling him what he could and couldn't do, and he'd take that any day over her usual nagging. Reveling in his freedom, he wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to where he was going. He went to turn one of the corners, and bumped into the boy doing the same. The precariously balanced pile of food went crashing to the ground. Packages of chips, candies and cookies all went flying to the ground. Trying to take a step back from the catastrophe, Ben felt something squishy underneath his foot. He glanced down to see that he had stepped right onto a bag of marshmallows.

And now the boy was glaring daggers at him.

Which was an admittedly terrifying sight, considering that the boy was several inches taller than him and far more intimidating than most kids ever were. Not Kevin level of intimidating, but close. He couldn't explain why. He looked like a normal kid, but there was something different about him – maybe the way that he held himself, or the way that he looked down at Ben. But Ben had never been the type to run away from a threat, and he stubbornly stayed exactly where he was.

This didn't seem to deter the other boy. Still glaring at Ben, he leaned down and began to pick up the foods that had scattered across the floor. “Watch where you're going, kid,” the boy said. There was that feeling again – a terrible little jolt of fear that he shouldn't have felt looking at someone his age. 

Ben squared his shoulders. Crossed his arms. Glared back at him. “Watch where you're going, _kid_ ,” he replied, sticking his tongue out for emphasis. They were the same age, after all. If he thought he could get away with calling him that, Ben would eagerly do the same.

The boy remained unfazed by everything he did, giving the bag of marshmallows underneath Ben's foot a sharp tug when it was the last thing left. Ben wasn't a light kid; the most that should have happened was the bag budging just a little and the boy giving up when he failed to get it free. But that wasn't what happened. The bag popped free with a quick pull, and Ben went tumbling into the rack behind them.

The metal rack swayed unsteadily from side to side. Ben was prepared for the inevitable crash, but the world apparently wanted to mess with him. The motion was so quick that Ben almost missed it. Balancing the food in his arms, the boy stuck out a foot and jerked the rack back into position. The metal rack steadied. Ben, unprepared for the action, still went tumbling to the floor. From the brief yet smug smirk on the boy's face, he was enjoying the spectacle far too much for Ben's ego.

Ben jumped back to his feet.

“Hey, what was that for-”

“Are you going to move?”

Unprepared for the question, Ben remained silent.

“You're in the middle of the aisle,” the boy said. “Are you going to move, or do I need to go another way?” The next aisle was less than a foot from where he was standing, but he made it sound like it was a hassle to change directions. Though his instincts were telling him to get as far away from this boy as possible, Ben was ready for a fight. Using the Omnitrix here would be stupid, but Ben Tennyson could be an epic and awesome fighter without it. Keeping his glare as strong as it was when it started, Ben stood as straight as he could. He'd fight right here and right now, and then that boy would drop that irritating attitude of his-

“Ben, what are you doing?”

He spun around.

Gwen was standing at the end of the aisle, her arms crossed and an absolutely terrifying look on her face. Well, terrifying to anyone who wasn't him – after the first few times he received that look, it had lost its impact on him. 

He did a double take when he saw who was standing next to her. It was the girl that had been out in the parking lot with the boy he had been about to confront. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that they were siblings. They looked nearly identical, almost creepily so. 

Gwen cleared her throat and narrowed her eyes.

“I was about to give that jerk what he deserved! He bumped in me and started bossing me around,” he explained, gesturing back in the direction of the boy. Or what should have been the direction the boy was in. A second after he pointed at him, he felt someone brush up against his shoulder. The boy completely ignored him as he walked up to the cash register. 

“I'm sorry about Levi,” his sister apologized, staring down at the ground with an embarrassed expression on her face. Ben was ready to continue his tirade, but something about the look made him feel embarrassed for even thinking it. “He-He's kind of mean sometimes. I don't think he means it, though...” 

Gwen gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Don't worry about it. I understand what it's like to have an annoying relative – and I'm sure Ben was asking for it.”

“Hey!” 

The girl glanced behind her at her brother. With an absolutely dejected look on her face, she turned to Gwen and gave her a smile. She pointed at the book in Gwen's hands. “My brother really likes that book. I hope you do too.” Then she was gone, chasing after the brother in question as he slipped through the open doors of the store.


	2. Chapter 2

“What a jerk!” Ben declared as he and his cousin left the store. 

It was a rare occasion when someone managed to annoy him more than Gwen did, but everything about that boy seemed to be strange. His irritating personality was just the tip of the iceberg. Compared to some of the things that had happened in the store, the frustrating attitude was nothing. 

Still, it was enough to bug him.

He shoved his hands into his pockets and glared down at the pavement. “If only I had used the Omnitrix-”

“Ben, you can't use the Omnitrix for something like that!” Gwen reprimanded him. He rolled his eyes and slouched even more than before. Of _course_ she would say something like that. Gwen, the little goody-two-shoes, would never think of using the Omnitrix in a situation that totally needed it. Sighing, Gwen reluctantly added, “I didn't like him, either. Juniper made it sound like he's an all around horrible person.”

He poked his head up. “Who's Juniper?”

“That girl,” she said. “Duh. Who else would she be?”

He shrugged. How was he supposed to know? He was too occupied with that stupid boy to pay any attention to his sister.

“Juniper said her brother dragged her into the store,” Gwen continued on, oblivious to Ben's lack of care when it came to anything involving Juniper. He just wanted to get some sweet revenge on her brother – Levi was what she called him, right? “And he apparently always ignores her, just forcing her to go places when he wants to-”

“Gwen, you've got to see that lake over there!” Ben interrupted, gesturing wildly at the large body of water that was surprisingly close to the store. It had been sparkling in the sunlight. And Ben, eager for something else to think about, had noticed it almost immediately.

His cousin sighed.

“What?” he demanded, placing his hands on his hips.

“You know, Juniper and I might have more in common than I thought.” 

**xXx**

Shadows danced across his face, the flames of the fire licking the night air with a steady crackle. He leaned in close. Accompanied by the darkness seeping into the forest behind them, he ominously concluded, “And he was never seen again.”

Silence.

“That wasn't scary, Ben,” Gwen finally commented. Only seconds after she spoke, a choir of crickets began to chirp nearby. It totally ruined the mood he had so carefully built up with his incredibly terrifying tale. “It was boring.”

He crossed his arms. “That was totally scary! You're just no fun.”

“You've told that same story at the last five campsites we've been at,” she argued, mirroring his expression and letting out a frustrated sigh. “And the ending hasn't changed a single time! The guy wanders into the woods alone, stumbles into an angry ghost and disappears – and I bet you'll say the same thing tomorrow night, too!”

“Well, it's true this time!” Ben protested. If she was going to insult his storytelling skills, he had to fight back with something. He wasn't making it up this time around. An adult had been the one to tell him it. While he rarely trusted any adult other than Grandpa Max, this guy had seemed completely legit. After all, he worked at the place! “Remember? The janitor at the bathrooms told us about how all those people go missing in the woods, and that he even saw the ghost before! That's why he said we shouldn't go in there after it got dark!”

Grandpa Max looked at his two grandchildren. The two kids in question glared at each other, neither willing to budge on their side of the argument. 

“Your story is as good as it was the last few times, Ben,” he reassured him. Ben straightened at the praise. At least his grandpa thought highly of him! He was about to stick his tongue out at Gwen to mock her for losing, but Grandpa Max hadn't finished talking. “But I think that man just didn't want anyone messing around in the woods after dark.”

Gwen gave him a smug grin. 

Glaring into now dying embers of the fire, Ben decided right then and there that he would find the ghost and prove them both wrong. It wouldn't be predictable, and then Grandpa Max would believe him! Nothing could possibly go wrong, especially with the Omnitrix at his side. The ghost would never be see it coming. All he had to do now was wait for the other two to fall asleep.

It didn't take long. They headed inside soon after the story concluded. Moments after laying down in their respective beds, his grandpa and cousin were fast asleep. Ben easily slipped out of the RV without waking either one of them. Armed with only himself and his watch, he began his search with a confidence that quickly faded.

The moon had long ago hid behind a thick layer of clouds. He could make out the outline of it if he squinted, but it provided minimal lighting to the woods. Tree branches swayed in the chilling breeze, their shadows weaving together and covering what could barely be called a path. A heavy silence blanketed the deep and dark forest. Even the crickets had fallen silent, something that Ben immediately knew was a sign that something was wrong. 

He glanced back in the direction that he had come from. He needed to turn around. He could hear _something_ coming from the opposite direction, quickly approaching where he was. It sounded almost like the footsteps of a person, but then he heard claws digging into the earth. Everything was screaming at him to run, but he couldn't find the strength to. All courage had been stolen from his body the moment he had stepped foot into the woods. And every second he spent trying to get his legs to move was a second whatever it was spent bridging the shortening distance between the two of them.

There was the sound of it stepping into what had to be a puddle from the last storm that had gone through the area, and then an absolutely inhuman hissing noise rang out from what could only been ten or so feet away. Ben could barely hold back a scream as he caught his first glimpse of the monster lurking in the shadows – an arm covered in an array of black scales, thick claws extending from five long fingers. Glowing purple eyes peered out from the darkness and scanned the area.

Finally gaining the strength to move, Ben pressed himself flat against the nearest tree before the thing could see him. He tried to steady his breathing, but it was so loud that he thought for sure that the monster could hear it. He was hidden in the shadows, but his hiding spot would be quickly discovered if he made so much as a whimper. 

He slowly crept to the other side of the tree as the moon rolled out from behind the clouds. It was only for a brief second, but it was enough for him to get a good look at what was terrorizing the forest. A monster that was much taller than him stood in the center of the small clearing Ben had been about to enter, every inch of its body not clad in cloth covered by the scales coating its arms. Its eyes were an eerily bright shade of purple that seemed to glow, and long black hair rolled down its back in thick tangled waves. The clothes looked familiar – a hoodie and jeans – but Ben couldn't recall where he had seen them before. It was barefoot, its long black claws digging into the earth as it looked in his direction.

He pressed himself back up against the tree.

This time, however, it wasn't out of fear. 

He may have entered the woods with the intention of finding the ghost, but he was starting to suspect that the ghost had never been responsible for the disappearances. This thing – alien, monster, or whatever it was – must have been preying on whoever had wandered into the forest. While it may have had the advantage over the unsuspecting camper, now it was dealing with an experienced hero. And Ben certainly wasn't going to let it get away with what it had been doing to those poor people.

He started to go through the different aliens in the Omnitrix, absentmindedly shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He needed the perfect one if he was going to give the monster the justice it deserved. But as he finally started to rule out which ones he didn't want to use, his foot landed on a twig. The stick cracked underneath his sneaker, and the monster immediately began to head in his direction to investigate the source of the noise.

“He has to be here somewhere!” Ben whispered, desperately searching for Four Arms in the lineup of different aliens. The monster was less than a foot away; he could almost feel its breath on his neck. He wanted to give a triumphant cry when he finally found the one he was looking for, but he managed to keep silent and instead slammed his hand down on his watch.

Temporarily blinded by the bright green light, the thing stumbled back into the clearing it had just left. Ben rushed out from behind the tree, ready to pummel the monster with the awesome strength of one of his favorite aliens. The thing was covering its eyes with its hands, trying to shield them from the light that had already died down. It was the perfect opportunity to attack it. He raised his hand to give a sweet helping of justice-

And then suddenly realized just how bright the woods looked.

“Oh, come on!” he exclaimed. “I wanted Four Arms, not Heatblast!” 

It could have been worse – he cringed when he thought of the times he had accidentally gotten Grey Matter or Ripjaws – but he was still frustrated with his lack of control over the stupid watch. It was _his_ Omnitrix. It was supposed to do what he wanted it to!

The monster stared at him, narrowing its eyes in what could only be confusion. Ben was undergoing a similar feeling, but there was little he could do about it. Sighing, he held up a hand and shot a beam of fire at it. At least he could do that. 

But the monster easily dodged the attack, the trees behind it getting scorched by the flames that had erupted from Ben's hand. A smug grin began to stretch from one ear to the other, revealing a terrifying set of sharp teeth in its mouth. Hopefully, it wouldn't be stupid enough to sink any of those into the arm of a burning alien. 

“It's been a long time since I've gotten a chance to fight,” it suddenly said, rolling its shoulders back and giving a little stretch. It dug its feet into the ground, and balled its hands into fists. “And let me just say that I'm absolutely thrilled that someone wants to give little old me a fight.” 

He shot another beam of fire. 

It disappeared in a sudden burst of purple particles. Ben wildly searched the clearing for where it had gone, but it was nowhere to be found. Groaning, he started to head to where it had just been standing. But then he felt a little tap on his shoulder, and he turned to see the monster standing right behind him.

“You know, you should really get an idea of what your opponent can do _before_ you try attacking them.” The monster shrugged. “Your loss!” 

With a single, fluid kick, it sent him flying across the clearing.


	3. Chapter 3

Pushing himself back up without touching any of the nearby trees – the last thing he wanted to do was deal with a forest fire on top of this guy – Ben staggered to his feet. His head was pounding from the impact, and his back felt like he had been slammed into a tree. Which he had, but it was still unexpectedly painful. The monster gave a smug smirk at the spectacle. That was weird. He was getting the oddest sense of déjà vu from it, but he couldn't figure out why. 

“You shouldn't underestimate me,” Ben finally said, shaking off the last remnants of his headache. He had to focus if he wanted to beat this thing. “Because I'm about to heat things up.”

The monster stared at him. Ben couldn't guess why, but he was grateful that he had an opportunity to attack. One fireball later, and the monster was hopping from one burning foot to the other. The same hissing sound from before filled the clearing: a brief yet incredibly loud noise, almost like some of the snakes he had seen at the last zoo they had visited. 

“That's what you get for thinking you could beat Heatblast,” Ben cockily said, crossing his arms and returning its smug smirk.

The monster gave him an absolutely evil glare as it now tried to shake the fire off of its feet, but Ben remained unfazed. Or, at least, that's what he hoped he seemed like. It was a pretty terrifying one, especially when it was coming from a scaly abomination like _that_. But when it finally shook off the last of the flames, the glare softened, and it gained a different look on its face. With its inhuman features, it was hard to place what it was.

“I don't know if I should be more disappointed by that terrible pun,” the monster said, taking a step in his direction, “or that you're named after what you do.”

“Heatblast is a perfectly good name,” Ben defensively said. He was the one who had come up with it, after all! Insulting the name was insulting his honor, and Ben Tennyson hated when anyone did that.

“A perfectly _stupid_ name.”

“I bet your name isn't any better!” he countered, pointing in the monster's direction. 

The monster stopped its advance and raised an eyebrow. Ben wasn't even sure how it had managed that; he hadn't seen the eyebrows when he was looking at it earlier. But that was what it did, and it was only while it was doing so that Ben realized just how close the monster had gotten to him during their conversation.

“My name is Kartiel,” it said. “Unlike your name, it's actually creative.” 

Ben crossed his arms. He had to admit that it was a pretty good name, though that was the sort of thing he wasn't supposed to let his opponent know. He would have to be content with glaring it down like he was right now. And he likely would have to continue to do exactly that, if the shadows didn't suddenly start moving on their own.

He stumbled back into the tree behind him, eyes wide in horror as thick tendrils of darkness burst forth from the ground and started to wrap around his ankles. Though he made of living fire, the shadows had no qualms about climbing up his legs. He frantically tried to shake them loose. He had to get out of here, soon – if he didn't, he would be completely covered! Dealing with the monster was bad enough. Add this into the mix, and he was done for.

He looked up at the monster in question.

And not a single shadow had wrapped around it.

It was in the middle of studying the grit underneath its claws, a casual yet uninterested expression on its face. Ben, meanwhile, was fighting for his life. Seeing such a bored look on the monster's face made him want to struggle even harder. “I'm surprised you were stupid enough to fall for it,” it absentmindedly said. “Few do.”

“Fall for what!?” Ben asked. Couldn't this guy see how now really wasn't a good time to taunt him? 

He momentarily breaking his arm free. But as he triumphantly started to pull off some of the other shadows covering his body, more wrapped around his free arm and pressed it against his side. Ben groaned and went back to trying to get some limb free.

Another raised eyebrow. He was really starting to hate that expression. “You really are dense, aren't you? I've been distracting you the past five minutes with our banter.” It grinned. “And now I've caught you, _Heatblast_ , and I think it's time for lights out.” 

Shadows burst from the ground and began to wrap around the monster's arm. If Ben could pale as Heatblast, he certainly would have. The shadows had never been a different enemy from the one he was facing – it had been the same foe all along. He tried to break free with renewed vigor, but the results were the same as before. To make things even worse, the Omnitrix was starting to make that noise that meant only one thing: his time was almost up.

Instinct kicked in where brute force failed. He kicked up some of the dirt in front of his feet with as much strength as he could muster, and a good part of it ended up in Kartiel's eyes. The monster hissed in pain and hurriedly tried to wipe it out. The shadows momentarily loosened their grip. And just as it had almost gotten the last of the dirt out of its eyes, Heatblast became Ben Tennyson. The light only further aggravated the monster's eyes, and, unprepared for a much smaller target, the shadows left enough space for him to escape.

He darted into the dark woods, running faster than he had ever before. Luck had been the only reason he was able to escape. He doubted he would be as lucky the next time he ran into Kartiel. There was no time to figure out where to go next. Gwen and Grandpa Max were in the opposite direction, along with any other campsite. He was heading into unknown territory. If he didn't already have to fear for his life, he'd be absolutely terrified right now. Even though he had a head start, it didn't take long for Kartiel to bridge the distance between them. He could hear its voice now, shouting over the silence of the woods.

“You can't run forever, Heatblast!” it called out. “I'm going to find you and then you'll regret ever deciding to attack me.” This was accompanied by the sound of shadows slithering around at its feet, which only made him more horrified than before. He had to find somewhere to hide-

The ground suddenly gave out beneath him.

A scream erupted from him as he went tumbling into the large hole that had opened up at his feet. He wildly tried to grab onto the sides of the abyss, but there was nothing for him to get a good grip on. Any roots that he momentarily caught quickly broke, and the ledges he grasped were unable to support his weight.

Kartiel had come to a stop beside the hole. Even though he was way more focused on the fact that he was about to become a Ben-pancake, he caught a glimpse of glowing purple eyes peering down at him from the otherwise dark sky above. 

“It's low of you to nag a kid, Heatblast!” Kartiel shouted. “Even I have the decency to keep this between the two of us!” 

Ben was too busy screaming to come up with a reply.

But as he frantically tried to find something to grab onto, an absolutely horrifying shriek reached his ears. Which made Ben scream even louder because there was nothing quite like being terrified by two different things at once. 

Dirt cascaded into the seemingly endless hole, bringing Kartiel down with it. He could see its arms and limbs flailing as it tried to get a hold of some sort, just like he had been trying to do for the last minute. He looked away for only a second; there, feet below him was the ground. And if he didn't think of something soon, he wouldn't be leaving this place alive. Panic overcame reason. As his Omnitrix went from red to green, he gave it a quick spin and slammed down on it as hard as he could. A flash of green light, a startled cry on Kartiel's part from the sudden brightness and not-so-hard landing later, and Ben jumped to his feet.

He glanced down. 

A green, crystalline body greeted him. 

Well, it looked like he had gotten the brute force he had wanted ten minutes ago – although Kartiel's weird control over the shadows made him want to hide. Not for long, of course. He was a hero, and heroes were supposed to fight bad guys like the monster that was still falling. He just needed a strategic retreat until he came up with a better idea. 

So he looked around the area he had fallen into for some sort of explanation. He was in a tunnel, one that had empty metal carts lining the crystalline walls. Crystals in countless different colors coated the walls. He was in awe of their beauty, but the sound of shadows moving around behind him made him decide that he _really_ needed to get away from the hole in the tunnel's ceiling.

Ben ducked around the corner just as shadows shot up to soften Kartiel's descent. And he really did duck; the ceilings were almost too low for Diamondhead, and it was a hassle to fit underneath the wooden beams that supported the walls of the tunnel. His size made it impossible to run _or_ fight. He was trapped, and it was only a matter of time until Kartiel realized that.

“Heatblast, I know you're down here~” Kartiel cheerfully said, darkness slithering behind it as it approached Ben's hiding spot. Ben held his breath. He was so, so dead if Kartiel found him! “And I know you have that kid with you, too. You might have been quiet, but I heard his screams. Should I be honored that you thought you needed him as leverage against me?” 

Realizing how likely it was that he was going to be discovered, Ben began to slowly creep down the tunnel. Every footstep could prove fatal. He could hear Kartiel moving in the tunnel he had just left, though it had ceased talking when he hadn't replied to its taunts. In the distance, he could hear more movement. But with Kartiel coming from behind, he'd eagerly take that over the monster any day. Far too focused on remaining silent, Ben failed to notice the pile of rubble in front of him. It was only when his foot collided with one of the rocks and sent it flying down the rest of the hallway that he realized how screwed he was. Kartiel hurried back down the hallway. Whatever was in the tunnel at the end of this one began to head in his direction. 

A flurry of little purple particles suddenly appeared beside the pile or rubble. Ben stumbled back and slammed his head against the beam behind him, unprepared for both the sudden light show and how little space he had between himself and the beam. When the flurry died down, Kartiel was standing in front of him. “Your escape failed-” It paused. “You-you're not Heatblast. Who are you?”

Ben didn't reply.

Because just when Kartiel started speaking, a man had turned the corner behind it. Holding a pistol in one hand, he came to an abrupt stop and stared at the two before him. Ben frantically tried to convey that things were alright with a series of warm smiles and thumbs up, but the sight of two nonhuman creatures was enough for the man. 

He raised the gun and pressed the barrel up against the back of Kartiel's head.


	4. Chapter 4

The gun wasn't immediately Ben's problem. If it was fired, the only one injured would be Kartiel, and Ben certainly needed all the help he could get. But there was two little catches to that plan: Kartiel would likely be dead, which was something he wanted to avoid, and the next person the guy would attack would be a certain green alien standing only feet away from both the man and Kartiel.

“There's something against the back of my head,” Kartiel slowly said. It started to reach a hand up to grab said thing, but that only caused the man to push it closer to its head. Kartiel's hand dropped. It hung loosely at the monster's side, and the monster resigned itself to standing exactly where it was.

Ben held his hands up in mock surrender. He had gotten bad reactions from people before, but never _this_ bad. “Please put the gun down. We're not going to hurt you.”

“It's a gun?” Kartiel questioned. A look of terror flickered across its face when Ben gave a slight nod of the head. Kartiel had been incredibly calm the entire time they had been fighting, but a panic overcame it that just didn't make sense. It wildly looked around. When it saw nothing that could save it, it stared, horrified, at Ben. “There's a gun against my head. There's a _gun_ against my head. You can't dodge a bullet, and I've run out of second chances!” 

The words didn't make any sense, but Kartiel's panicking was only making the situation worse. “It'll be okay,” Ben hurriedly reassured him. Was he really trying to calm down the monster that had tried to kill him only minutes ago? “He'll put the gun down and then we can leave-”

“The only time I'm putting this gun down is when you monsters are dead!” the man interrupted, but his hand was shaking as he continued to press the gun against Kartiel's head. 

“Actually, I'm an alien,” Ben helpfully corrected. He had to come up with something. And if buying time was the best he could do right now, then he would settle for that. “You can call me Diamondhead.” 

Both Kartiel and the man gave him looks of disbelief.

“What?” Ben demanded.

“Now really isn't the best time to be getting into your life story,” Kartiel said. “Seeing that the not-so-nice man with the gun is about to shoot the both of us!” 

It no longer looked it was on the verge of tears, but that couldn't be right. Kartiel was still freaking out. You couldn't be calm and freak out at the same time. That was impossible, even for a monster that seemed quite talented at everything else it had done. But he couldn't deny that it was giving him an unnervingly relaxed look. 

Kartiel was crazy. That had to be it! All of the time it had spent alone in the woods had resulted in it losing its mind. He went to go take a step away from the monster.

Then the man moved the gun to the side of Kartiel's head, and his hand went for the trigger. “If you go anywhere, I'll shoot your friend right now!”

“We're not friends-”

Now that the man was so close to it, Kartiel resumed looking terrified. Tears even began to roll down its cheeks. Ben was really disturbed by the sudden switch in mood. “I-I don't want to die,” it said, trembling in fear. “B-But if I live, th-then that ghost will show up. And it'll k-kill me!” 

“The ghost doesn't exist,” the man scoffed.

“But it does!” Kartiel protested. “I've seen it! It's tall, and black and looks like it has the outline of a person! But then those tendrils start coming out, and it-and it almost killed me the last time I saw it! I barely managed to escape with my life!”

The man started to laugh at the comment, which made Ben more worried than he already was. There was a ghost in the woods. That janitor had told him that there was, and there was no reason for the janitor to lie about something like that. If Kartiel had seen the ghost, it had to be the truth. “You must be crazy if you think you saw that ghost. It's not real, monster! It's nothing more than a story-”

Kartiel raised a shaking finger. “Th-then explain that!” 

Both the man and Ben spun around to see what the monster was pointing at. To their combined horror, a tall dark being was lumbering their way. Though it should have needed to duck to get past the wooden beams, it simply walked straight through them. It looked exactly like the outline of a person. It was then that Ben realized two terrifying things: he was looking at Kartiel's ghost, and they were going to definitely die now.

Ben screamed. The man dropped the gun. The ghost shot forward to where Kartiel was with a surprising burst of speed, strands of darkness extending off of its body as it grabbed the monster around its neck with its two hands. Now the man, who was less than a foot away from the ghost, also began to scream. 

The ghost was strangling Kartiel right in front of their eyes, but Ben was far too terrified to even run away. Kartiel tried to dig its claws into the ghost's hands, but the claws went through the hands with every attempt Kartiel made. It was only when Kartiel's head rolled back and its purple eyes lost their shine that the ghost finally let the monster go – by throwing its limp body into the wall across from them. 

The ghost turned to the man.

The man screamed for a final time and went running back the way he came.

That left the ghost and Ben, the former having started heading his direction the moment the man fled. 

“Uh, nice ghost?” he said, taking a step back. 

His head slammed into the wooden beam behind him. The ghost came closer. Ben tried to back up more, desperately wishing he had stayed in the RV, but his attempts were futile. He kept bumping into either the ceiling or the wooden beams supporting it, and the ghost just walked through the ones that were hanging too low. The ghost grabbed onto his arm. Ben tried to wrench it free, but the grip was far too strong.

And, of course, that was when the Omnitrix stopped working. 

Though he had suddenly become a small boy instead of whatever Diamondhead was, the ghost still held onto his hand just as tightly as before. Now he was being dangled above the ground, which would have been terrifying even if he wasn't being held by a ghost. Then he screamed for what seemed like the hundredth time, because the supposedly dead Kartiel had just turned to look at him with eyes that still failed to glow. 

The corpse propped itself up against the wall. The ghost remained exactly where it was as its victim staggered to its inhuman feet, rubbing the part of its head that had hit the tunnel's wall the hardest.

“Ow,” Kartiel said, in a voice that sounded very much alive. “That _really_ hurt.” 

Ben ceased struggling. Instead, he began to look between the ghost and Kartiel. It didn't take long for understanding to dawn on him. He had been too caught up in the moment to notice just how familiar his current captor was – the strands of darkness in particular should have clued him in. The ghost wasn't a person at all. It was shadows that Kartiel had manipulated, just like back in the woods. And the story about the ghost? That had just been part of its act, and its terror was just Kartiel hamming it up. 

Even though the monster was probably going to kill him now that he had been caught, Ben had to admit that he admired it. A plan like that had to be a sudden one, and, if he had been involved in it, it would have been a pretty cool one.

Kartiel came to a stop by the shadow's side. 

“Instead of a giant crystal guy, I get you,” the monster mused.

Ben gave a sheepish smile. If Kartiel could pull off such an impossible performance, he could, too! He was Ben Tennyson, and Ben Tennyson could do anything if he put his mind to it. And Kartiel had already given him the perfect script. “I, uh, don't really know what's happening. I got kidnapped by this really scary guy that was on fire-”

“Heatblast,” Kartiel said. “From what he told me.”

Ben eagerly nodded. “And then he brought be into the hole.”

The monster crossed its arms, musing over the response. “And then what happened?” it asked, gesturing for him to continue with a wave of its hand.

“He brought me to this terrifying man who was like ten feet tall and looked like he was made out of rocks,” Ben continued. He was starting to get the hang of this acting thing! “I-I think he said his name was Diamondhead or something? He put me in that pile of rubble over there right before you showed up. Right before the g-ghost caught him he took me from the pile and put me in front of him! Then he disappeared into the...wall.”

He pointed at the crystals only a few feet away. Luckily, they were the exact same shade of green as Diamondhead was. 

Kartiel bought it. The shadows put him down, sinking into the ground moments later. Ben was feeling quite proud of himself when he finally began to escape from the monster that had made his night absolutely terrible – he didn't know how, but it looked like he was going to get out of this with his life! He started to head down the tunnel, hoping that Gwen and Grandpa Max would have some idea of how to fight against a monster like Kartiel.

But then Kartiel appeared in front of him in that annoying flurry of purple particles. 

“Hi?” Ben said.

“Hi,” Kartiel replied. It peered down at the Omnitrix, and Ben instinctively covered it with his other hand. “Interesting watch you have there. Where could I get one?”

“Uh-” He crossed his arms. “Wait, you're a monster! You can't go out and buy yourself a watch without someone noticing you.”

Kartiel grinned, eagerly showing off its rows of sharp teeth. 

“I've heard of things that could do incredible stuff, Ben. I could find one of those things that would let me look like one of you humans.” It leaned down so their faces were less than a foot apart from each other. Ben could smell its breath – minty, almost like the toothpaste Grandpa Max had in his RV. “But you must think I'm crazy for even suggesting it! Just imagine if there happened to be a guy running around who could change his form. He could do whatever he wanted, and fight whoever he wanted. And when things started looking just a little bit dicey, he'd change his form and pretend that he's a completely different person.”

Ben paled, suddenly understanding what Kartiel was truly talking about. He didn't know how, but the monster had figured out that he was the same person it had been fighting in the woods.

Before he could stop it, Kartiel poked the Omnitrix with a long claw. “Nice try, Ben. You had me going up until my little _ghost_ showed up, but then I started to realize that your watch looked almost identical to the strange thing I had seen on Heatblast and Diamondhead's chests. Once I noticed that, I suddenly understood why a little kid started to appear-”

“I'm not little kid,” Ben retorted. “I'm ten.”

“I know ten-year-olds taller than you,” Kartiel argued. “You're little, especially for a human. Your sister is little, too.” 

“I-I don't have a sister,” he said. How was he supposed to reply to a comment like that when it wasn't even true? “Who are you talking about? Are-are you talking about _Gwen_?”

Kartiel thought for a moment. “Red hair, green eyes? You're nodding, so I'll take that as a yes. Okay, so I was wrong. You guys do look freakishly similar for not being siblings, but I'm not going to focus on that. We've got other things to deal with. Namely what exactly that watch is and who you are-”

It had taken a few times for Ben to notice something bizarre about the way that Kartiel was talking, but now the odd little quirks in its speech were impossible to ignore. Kartiel knew his name. He had never once mentioned his actual name, so how was the monster supposed to know it? And then it knew what Gwen looked like – that meant it had seen them together, right? 

All it took was one look at Kartiel's outfit for it to click.

“You're that jerk! The one who bumped into me in the camp store and then didn't apologize! I can't believe I was fighting _you_! You've been acting like you're above me but you're just another kid, _Levi_ -”

“My name is Kartiel,” he interrupted, his tone as cold as ice. Ben's temporary moment of elation immediately ended when he heard the shift in his voice. “And you're going to do exactly what I say, or I'll teach just how little my age matters when it comes to what I'm capable of.” 


	5. Chapter 5

Ben crossed his arms and looked up at the boy in front of him. His threat may have been a good one, but Ben's entire summer had been spent dealing with threats from incredibly powerful people. Sure, Kartiel (or Levi, or whatever his name _actually_ was) had some terrifying stuff up his sleeves. But so did every other opponent he had faced in the past few weeks, and he wasn't going to listen to his demands just because he may have had an advantage. 

“I'm not going to listen to you,” Ben declared.

“You will,” Kartiel said, “if you know what's good for you.”

“I eat bad guys like you for breakfast,” he countered. It wasn't exactly true, but he didn't need to know that. Ben straightened and squared his shoulders. Anything that made him look more intimidating was good; it would show just how powerful he was if he was given the need to be it. 

Oddly enough, he didn't need to do any of that.

It had only taken a moment for Kartiel's entire demeanor to change – and that moment had been before he had changed his posture, back when he had just finished speaking. Fearful wasn't a good way to describe it. Neither was angry, or even upset. The only way that Ben could possibly explain it was by calling it horrified. His eyes widened, and he took a step back. Ben wildly spun around to see what Kartiel was looking at, but there was nothing behind him.

Was _he_ the reason that Kartiel seemed so startled?

Was it another act? Was that it? He knew it was a good threat on his part, but he had never expected a reaction like that so quickly. It should have taken more time for Kartiel to respect him. But when he tried to find the flaws in the acting, he couldn't find any. It felt genuine, like Kartiel was honestly terrified by something that Ben had said. To see someone like him think of Ben in that light made him feel a way he shouldn't have felt – he felt like he was an absolutely horrible person, even though he should have been elated that Kartiel was going to back off.

“Don't tell anyone what you saw here,” Kartiel finally said, his voice wavering with every new word. He looked like he was on the verge of tears. “And if you have to, just say that you met a strange guy named Kartiel. Don't call me Levi. For all intents and purposes, I don't even know a Levi Quinn when I look like this.” 

Something was really, really wrong. Ben didn't know what it was, but he still stretched his hand out to grab onto Kartiel. “Wait-” Ben started to say, but he was gone before he could even finish. The remnants of the flurry of purple particles was all that there was left. 

Ben was never the best at understanding other people. A lot of the time, it was easiest to think about himself because he knew everything about Ben Tennyson compared to the little he knew about the other people he met. He usually left the touchy-feely stuff up to Gwen, seeing that she was so good at it. But standing in the abandoned tunnel, with Gwen nowhere in the near proximity, he knew he had to figure out what the heck had just happened.

He thought back to what he had said. It had just been a threat, exactly like the one Kartiel had given to him. They had both bragged about how powerful they were, even though Ben's had been a bit of a stretch. Still, it was a threat all the same; the only difference he could think of was that he had called Kartiel a bad guy, while Kartiel had just said how strong he was. 

So that was the part he didn't like? Getting called a bad guy? That didn't make any sense at all! Kartiel had taunted him, mercilessly fought him and even threatened him. He looked and acted like a cliché villain. And he had really, really creepy powers. That had to mean that he was a bad guy-

Oh.

_Oh no._

Ben was the one who had attacked first.

He had thought it was a great idea when he came up with, but he had known nothing about the person he was fighting. He had let his fear control how he acted, and now had upset someone who was probably a pretty cool guy once he got to know him. Grandpa Max and Gwen would have both reprimanded him for being so impulsive, and, for once, he would have totally agreed. Kartiel was only trying to defend himself – he had never been trying to hurt him because he wanted to.

He had to apologize. He had to tell Kartiel that he had jumped to a conclusion that wasn't true at all, and he needed to tell him just how cool Ben thought he was. That meant finding him, which would was probably going to be more difficult than it usually was. Kartiel could disappear and then appear anywhere. It was impossible tell where he had gone, and it would take ages to search the place they had fallen into.

The Omnitrix suddenly turned green.

He looked down at it.

He knew _exactly_ what he had to do.

**xXx**

It hadn't been hard to find a place to sit down. The mining system was mostly abandoned, save for whoever that man had been with and a certain kid. He found a comfortable little place at the end of a tunnel, one where rocks had fallen to block off whatever was behind it. He sat himself down on the largest rock he could find and rested his back up against the wall. And then he cried, because that was the entire reason he had teleported away in the first place.

It was one thing to be called evil by people who had always been prejudiced, ones who had hated him simply for the magic coursing through his blood. They had been wonderful at coming up with stories that were far from the truth, just to make their own versions of reality seem justified. And while that had hurt, he had always known that was just how things were. The only thing he could do to change that was change the entire course of the world.

But Ben was different. He was a kid on a world that had never seen the conflict his had seen, and he was far from being an adult. Kids were supposed to be the ones who could change the most; it was why the older generations, set in their ways, could never fully understand the differences that had fallen upon their descendants. The kids he had met that had learned of his past in his own world had been incredibly open to it all, and he had expected the same of it here.

Yet without giving him a story – the truth – Ben had decided that he was just as terrible as everyone else once believed. It was a horrible thing to realize that the lies he had been trying to deny were more realistic than he had ever thought. He had called him a bad guy with such conviction that it was clear what he thought of him, and Kartiel hated that he had been blind to just how terrible he had been acting.

He heard movement from down the tunnel adjoining his own.

It was coming his way, and it was coming fast.

Wiping away his tears with the sleeve of his hoodie, Kartiel unsteadily got to his feet. He called forth some of the darkness within him to take on the form of the ghost from before. It had been a great deterrent earlier, and he was sure it would serve that purpose again. 

There was a blur of color at the entrance, as if someone was running incredibly fast. But this world didn't have speed potions, and he couldn't even begin to think of why someone would be using one here if they did.

Kartiel let himself relax ever so slightly. Whatever that had been, it was still in the area. However, he doubted it would be returning in the near future. It had already scouted this area. To come back again would be pointless if it hadn't noticed him the first time around-

The blur passed by again.

This time, it took a turn down into his tunnel. He had no time to manipulate the darkness into attacking it; it was far past the entrance by the time that the sight of it really registered. Kartiel tried to create more darkness near himself, but it was already in front of him by the time that the thought even crossed his mind. A thing that definitely wasn't human was staring at him, and it was less than a foot away.

Kartiel stumbled back into the rocks behind him.

The thing covering its head popped up to reveal a face, and that was when Kartiel had officially had it. He was tired and upset and really didn't want to deal with weird Earth stuff if he could help it. He hurried back to his feet, ready to attack it once the opportunity arose.

“Hi,” it said, giving a wave.

Kartiel stared.

It tapped the familiar design on its chest. One that he had seen several times before, and one that had been on the wrist of a certain boy he had seen not too long ago. “Ben?” he hesitantly asked. How many different forms did that watch of his let him turn into? And why had he decided to come talk to him after what he had said?

The thing – Ben – nodded.

Though he had said that he had figured out that Ben could change his form, it was difficult to hard to associate the new voice and appearance with the kid he had met earlier that day. It should have been easy for a person like him; changing his own form had always been second nature, but it was a completely different experience when someone else was doing the changing.

“What do you call that one?” Kartiel questioned, gesturing at the new form. 

“XLR8,” Ben replied, and it was only after he explained how it was spelled that Kartiel got the pun. He wasn't sure if he should laugh or cry at how terribly good it was. He started to say something else, but then there was a blinding flash of green light. When Kartiel finally looked back in that direction, he saw Ben awkwardly standing in the place of the alien.

Kartiel found a new spot among the rubble of the collapsed tunnel to sit on. After a little bit of searching, he found one nearby that Ben could sit on too. If Ben had used another form to find him, he was probably going to be there for awhile. 

Ben hesitantly sat down beside him.

“So,” Kartiel started, “what did you want to talk about?” 


End file.
